Christian evangelising in Scottish schools exposed ahead of Holyrood school worship vote

New data published by Humanist Society Scotland (HSS) just days before the final vote on the Scottish Government’s Religious Observance (RO) Bill, has found widespread Christian evangelising during RO sessions in Scotland’s non-denominational schools. HSS argues the figures show that the Scottish Government’s long-standing assurances that RO is ‘inclusive, objective, and pluralist’ are not borne out in practice, and that MSPs must act now to protect pupils’ rights by amending the Bill to give pupils an independent opt-out.

Audit of 280 non-denominational schools

HSS obtained FOI data from 280 non-denominational schools across Scottish Borders, Falkirk, and Highland councils. The audit found that:

• 71% of RO sessions were delivered by Christian representatives
• Across the Borders and Highlands, just two non-Christians led RO events during the whole of 2025
• 54% of RO was prayer or worship-based and required pupils to affirm belief in God

HSS points out that this is happening in areas where, according to the 2022 Census, 68% of children aged 5–17 have no religion. The findings raise serious concerns that pupils are being pressured to participate in worship or make declarations of belief they do not hold.

Crunch vote on 17 February

The report’s release comes ahead of the final Holyrood vote on the Scottish Government’s Religious Observance Bill on 17 February. HSS is urging MSPs to amend the Bill so that it gives pupils an independent right to withdraw themselves from religious observance. Currently the Bill only allows pupils to opt back in to RO if they have been withdrawn by parents or guardians. 

HSS recently made a major warning that Scottish schools risk ‘sleepwalking into legal cases’ if the Scottish Government failed to introduce an independent right for pupils to opt out of RO in its Bill. HSS is encouraging people to reach out to their MSP and call on them to guarantee pupils an independent opt-out from school worship. 

Collective Worship under the spotlight across the UK

Elsewhere in the UK, Humanists UK campaigns to end the legal requirement for daily collective worship and to replace it with inclusive, educational assemblies suitable for all pupils. Most recently, Humanists UK called on UK and Welsh governments, and the Northern Ireland Executive to review and reform collective worship in response to the 2025 Supreme Court ruling which found that an exclusively Christian religious education and collective worship were ‘indoctrination’. The court also found that withdrawal arrangements were not only insufficient to deal with the issue.

While the UK Government has announced that it remains ‘committed’ to collective worship in schools, it has announced that collective worship guidance for England will be reviewed. Humanists UK has argued that this will not go far enough, and that only a full repeal of collective worship will address the issues raised by the Supreme Court.

Commenting on the report, Humanists UK’s Policy and Campaigns Manager Lewis Young, said:

‘With the crunch Holyrood vote just days away, MSPs have a real chance to stop pupils being treated as a captive audience for worship. This new report from HSS shows that, despite assurances from the Scottish Government, school worship is overwhelmingly Christian and often prayer-based, despite most school-aged children in these areas having no religion.

‘This isn’t a Scotland-only issue. The UK Supreme Court’s ruling in JR87 has made clear that compulsory collective worship is indoctrination and that parental right to withdraw doesn’t sufficiently deal with the issue. Governments across the UK must now urgently review collective worship laws, and replace this out-dated requirement with inclusive assemblies every young person can benefit from.’